HYDERABAD: Apart from Hyderabad-based pharma major Aurobindo Pharma Limited, other city-based pharma players like Granules India Ltd, MSN Group and SMS Pharmaceuticals too have received licences from the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to manufacture and supply a generic version of nirmatrelvir, a key component of Pfizer’s oral Covid-19 drug Paxlovid, to 95 countries, including India.
As part of the Pfizer pill, nirmatrelvir is co-packaged with ritonavir. While nirmatrelvir stops the SARSCoV-2 virus from replicating by inhibiting a protein, ritonavir helps nirmatrelvir remain in the body longer at higher concentrations.
